What Next Poison Pills For Bugs

November 29, 1987

New poison pills that bugs eagerly eat could be the answer to a lot of pollution problems in states such as Florida, federal researchers say. The pills, which have been tested in Illinois by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, would greatly reduce the quantities of insecticide that farmers use. And that in turn would help abate the perennial Florida problem of insecticide runoff in the water supply.

In the study, entomologists created tiny capsules out of cornstarch and filled them with microscopic traces of pesticide. Rootworms in a field where the capsules were spread quickly ate them and within 20 minutes ''the party was over'' for the pests, researcher Richard Dunkle said. The method could be used to protect virtually any type of crop, researchers say, and could make insecticide pollution a thing of the past.